


A Cabin On A Lake

by x_Medusa_x



Category: Alien Series, Alien: Covenant
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, literally just the happy ending they should have gotten tbh, mild pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-03 23:32:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10977684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/x_Medusa_x/pseuds/x_Medusa_x
Summary: An alternative (much happier) ending.In which Daniels, Walter, Tennessee, and the colonists reach Origae-6 and build a colony.In which Walter helps Daniels keep a promise.





	A Cabin On A Lake

**Author's Note:**

> I was so disappointed that Dany and Walter didn't get a happy ending. Whatever happens to both of them surely won't be good :c So I wrote this, where the precious cinnamon buns get a happy ending together.

Seven years, really, shouldn't be that much of a big deal. After all, he's supposed to be a machine, cleverly disguised in human skin. He can't help but wonder, really, whether his brother got under his skin after all. Just a little. 

He finds himself checking her cryopod every day, at the same time, for precisely seven years, three months, and seventeen days. Of course, he checks on the other surviving crew member too, but he doesn't linger at Tennessee's pod as long as Daniels'. 

Tennessee dreams too often, unhappy dreams of his late wife that leave Walter with an uncomfortable tightness in his chest. He knows this as empathy, but at the same time, a malfunction. He is not human. His fixation on Daniels, he worries, is the beginning of something. What if he becomes just as unsettling as his brother? He is certain he isn't capable of such monstrosities, but even so, he finds his loneliness unsettling. 

That doesn't mean he stops his little visits and checks, however. No. He likes the strange warmth that flows through him when he checks on Daniels; sometimes she dreams of Jacob, but mostly, the closer they get to Origae-6, she dreams of building a cabin on a lake. 

Two days before they're due to arrive at their destination, Walter finds himself in one of the ship's cargo bays, staring at several large pallets of logs. He isn't allowed to create things, but he's certain he can follow a blueprint, should Daniels be in possession of one. He examines the crate of tools, touching them carefully, getting a feel of each one. He would be of more use if he still had two hands, he thinks, but somehow he doesn't think Daniels minds. 

He revives the surviving crew twelve hours from their destination. As before, he and Tennessee have to half-carry Daniels out of her pod, while she mumbles, half conscious, about how much she hates the damn things. Her cursing amuses Walter. Of course, he could curse, if he wanted. He's just never really felt the need to do so. Perhaps a sense of constant need to be polite is simply part of his programming, although he isn't entirely certain. 

It takes them several days to land the Covenant, or at least, get as close to landing as possible. Daniels doesn't want to land until they're all certain this planet has no hidden horrors or surprises for them. A wise decision, and a well-placed concern. 

It takes several more days to wake the colonists, but once the two thousand people in their care are awake, things begin to move swiftly. Doctors, teachers, farmers, builders, police, and ordinary people, all spill out of the Covenant. Under Daniels' instruction, they get the heavy terraforming equipment moving and working. Within mere weeks, the beginnings of a human settlement are visible on the lush terrain of Origae-6. 

It's only when Daniels is satisfied that Tennessee can handle things for a while, supervising the colony habitat, helping delegate tasks and the unloading of the supplies from the Covenant, that she turns to Walter and asks the question he knew was coming. 

"Will you still help me?" 

It's a rather silly question; she is human, and requires his assistance. It would be very difficult for him to say no. However, he doesn't think she is asking because she thinks of him as some sort of servant. He understands enough about human behaviour, attitude and body language, to recognise that she is asking because he is her friend. 

He wants to say it would be within his duty to do so, but somehow he thinks that may not go down too well, so instead, he gives her a silent, slightly awkward nod, and helps her load the pallets of logs onto a truck, hefting the crate of tools up by hand. 

Daniels meets him in the cab of the truck, clutching a leather-bound box. Walter has seen that box once before; Jacob Branson showed it to him once. If he recalls correctly - which, with his memory, he should - it contains the blueprints for a cabin, and several other things that he has purposely forgotten, given that they appeared to be private. 

As he navigates the truck across the landscape, Daniels holds tight to the box, peering out the window. 

"Which direction would you like the cabin to face?" He isn't sure why he says it. To make conversation, perhaps? He knows humans find small talk comforting. His question seemingly brightens her, because she considers for a moment. 

"The lake to the right," she says finally, "the east. So I can see the sun rise on it." 

A good choice, in Walter's opinion. 

"The settlement will be to the north," he reminds her. He wonders if she wants that, to be able to see the settlement in all its metal cabins - habitats - and connected structures. Perhaps she wants to always be able to see humans. To ensure they're safe. 

"That's alright." 

Twenty minutes later and they're standing beside the truck, the cargo unloaded. Daniels surveys the blueprint - its more of a floor plan, really - and the logs in visible confusion. 

"I have no idea what I'm doing." She confesses, peering into the crate of saws, axes, and nails. "Jake didn't either, really, but he had a better idea than I did." 

Walter, who had been studying the floor plan and several old photographs of log cabins, turns to her with a faint smile on his face. 

"Luckily, it is within my programming to be able to construct objects and buildings from blueprints and plans." 

When she looks at him with a mildly quizzical expression, he makes the effort to sound more human. That, of course, is against what he is supposed to do, but then again, he doesn't mind breaching his own sense of protocol for her. 

"I can help you build this." He explains, pointing at the floor plan, "it's quite a simple structure, really. We'll start with the foundation, and move from there. It's not strictly pioneer level, but you need a solid foundation for a safe habitat." 

He realises that the word habitat implies she's some sort of animal in captivity. 

"We generally call them houses," she says mildly, already used to and unfazed by his neutral terms. 

Together, they mark out the right amount of land with little orange flags stuck in the dirt. Daniels puts the flags down, tying rope to each one. Walter double checks the angles. He deliberately behaves subtly; he doesn't want her to feel stupid or inferior. After all, this is her idea, her party, so to speak. He feels rather privileged to be allowed to help her. She could have asked Tennessee. She could have gotten a couple of the builders out here to help her. Instead, it's just Daniels, Walter, and a large amount of wood.

Whilst they wait for the cement foundation to settle after a long day of pouring it, smoothing it over, and double checking the consistency, they eat soup that Tennessee brought up for them. Walter doesn't need to eat, not really, but Daniels insisted. Sometimes he thinks she forgets he isn't human. 

When she's curled up in the truck cab, using her jacket as a pillow and tucked under a blanket from the Covenant, Walter keeps watch, and then eventually starts to cut the logs, hoping to surprise her when she wakes. 

 

It takes them the better part of a month to complete the cabin, but when it's finished, it looks better than Daniels could have ever hoped. Two small bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen-combined-living room. It's small, but not claustrophobic. The first thing Daniels does is reach into the box she brought with her and place the moving photo of Jacob Branson on the windowsill. The late captain waves, grinning out at them as they haul furniture - mostly appliances and a pair of beds - into the cabin. 

Some things, such as the table and chairs, Walter made himself, following pictures in the book Daniels had with her. He may not be able to create things of his own design, but he could easily copy existing designs. He was content enough with that. 

They planted enough wheat, corn, potatoes and tomatoes for two people in the small field to the west of the cabin. Walter had long since given up on explaining that he didn't need to eat; Daniels enjoyed cooking, it seemed, and he enjoyed making her happy. 

There was no television in the cabin, instead a large variety of books. This was fine by him, and apparently fine by Daniels, who of late had taken to sitting beside him on the slightly lumpy couch whilst he read aloud. A small part of him wants to protest the silent shift in their relationship, if only because he is afraid of disappointing her. 

He cannot give her children, for instance. Nor will he age with her. Of course, she's young enough for that not to be a problem just yet. Perhaps he's overthinking. He isn't in her mind, after all. She's always been curious, never treating him any differently to any other person. He realises, almost startlingly, that perhaps she cares for him.

Perhaps it's this realisation that leads to his rather spontaneous action. It's an impulse, another quality he isn't supposed to possess, at least according to his instruction manual, but it happens anyway. He is so used to kissing her forehead each night, a brief comforting act that calms her and warms him. (Another feeling he isn't supposed to have). 

It's as she wakes from a light doze - she often sleeps lightly whilst he reads - that he leans down. Perhaps she senses the different intention, because when he goes to kiss her, she meets him halfway. 

So this is what love feels like, Walter thinks as his hand finds hers.


End file.
